Thoughts about TNG episodes you just watched?
- Thread starter GroovyAnimeWarrior
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That's what happened to Will, for the same acts of bravery etc... I have to assume it was granted by his CO, upon his return, & since Tom didn't return, said officer was/is in no position to now do so. I'd have to suspect he could've taken the matter before Starfleet & rather convincingly petitioned for the same recognition, having done/been the same as Will, up to that point, & probably would've gotten it.
Or having no CO now, what he maybe ought to have done (since Will was already treating him as a direct subordinate anyhow) was accept a temporary posting from Picard as attached to the Enterprise, for the completion of the current Nervala IV mission, for which he continued to contribute
Then, Picard would've been in a position to promote him for all he'd done, in both the evacuation mission 8 years earlier, and the efforts he'd put in over those 8 years, to keep the outpost functional, such that the Enterprise crew could retrieve its data (the reason they came there) only through his actions & sacrifice was either mission completed
Then, if he didn't want to serve under Will, he could move on thereafter... but yeah, a glaring oversight, to send him off with nothing to show for any of it
He'd be burnt like a marshmallow and Picard would still be rockin' the Locutus cybergetup.
Didn't Data say a time or two how he's proficient in many techniques, a broad variety of pleasuring? (And they say he has no emotions, his vanity certainly rose to the occasion...
)
D
Deleted member 106352
Guest
Last night I watched the episode "Haven" (S01E11) and was thinking how beautiful the chameleon rose was! 
Since I started watching "The Next Generation" from the beginning after quite a lot of time, I started to notice certain ideas that were popular at that time, like "the energy and thoughts are the same, so we can change reality with out thoughts" or "we are all connected and parts of one consciousness". Nowadays many people abandoned such ideas...
Since I started watching "The Next Generation" from the beginning after quite a lot of time, I started to notice certain ideas that were popular at that time, like "the energy and thoughts are the same, so we can change reality with out thoughts" or "we are all connected and parts of one consciousness". Nowadays many people abandoned such ideas...
"The Loss"
Should have been called "The Waste".
An opportunity to use a cool sci-fi concept like 2D lifeforms...wasted on window dressing for assassinating Troi's character.
<engage Rant Mode>
Sooo many better options...
1. 2D beings don't believe in a 3rd dimension, or that they've trapped the ship. Troi helps them learn to communicate and then show them 3-D Exists...then how many dimensions are WE missing?
2. The Enterprise is the invading monster that destroys their 2D settlement - peace must be brokered and fixed.
3. a Rogue 2D Scientist figures out there's a third dimension (which is heresy in their world) and contacts the enterprise for asylum. Needs help getting used to 3D world.
4. The 2D beings are running from a 4-D being and have to help the Enterprise escape too...
...and more.
Then a completely separate episode dealing with loss and or disability where Troi behaves in character.
1. Everyone's emotions get raised by a virus/radiation/trauma and Troi loses empathic ability - deals with it using therapeutic skills to keep the crew going (instead of giving up and whining).
2. Troi on a planet where the species doesn't have emotions and has to work with the humans to help them convert their emotional reactions into meaningful communication.
3. Has to help a crewman suffering a major loss but is not empathically readable. No powers but has to get that crewman back up and running to help save the ship....wait I think that's the plot of "loud as a whisper"...
4. Part of an away team stuck on a planet where emotional outbursts are punishable by death
...wasted opportunities!
<disengage Rant Mode>
Should have been called "The Waste".
An opportunity to use a cool sci-fi concept like 2D lifeforms...wasted on window dressing for assassinating Troi's character.
<engage Rant Mode>
Sooo many better options...
1. 2D beings don't believe in a 3rd dimension, or that they've trapped the ship. Troi helps them learn to communicate and then show them 3-D Exists...then how many dimensions are WE missing?
2. The Enterprise is the invading monster that destroys their 2D settlement - peace must be brokered and fixed.
3. a Rogue 2D Scientist figures out there's a third dimension (which is heresy in their world) and contacts the enterprise for asylum. Needs help getting used to 3D world.
4. The 2D beings are running from a 4-D being and have to help the Enterprise escape too...
...and more.
Then a completely separate episode dealing with loss and or disability where Troi behaves in character.
1. Everyone's emotions get raised by a virus/radiation/trauma and Troi loses empathic ability - deals with it using therapeutic skills to keep the crew going (instead of giving up and whining).
2. Troi on a planet where the species doesn't have emotions and has to work with the humans to help them convert their emotional reactions into meaningful communication.
3. Has to help a crewman suffering a major loss but is not empathically readable. No powers but has to get that crewman back up and running to help save the ship....wait I think that's the plot of "loud as a whisper"...
4. Part of an away team stuck on a planet where emotional outbursts are punishable by death
...wasted opportunities!
<disengage Rant Mode>
D
Deleted member 106352
Guest
I have just finished S02E03 ("Elementary, Dear Data") where we have a holographic character Moriarty who became conscious after he had adopted a vast amount of data from the ship's computer.
It reminded me of how today's LLMs are trained. The basic idea is that the more data they input, the more intelligent AI will become and sooner or later it will become a conscious being.
It has been interesting to see how old that idea actually is... Probably even older than "The Next Generation"...
It reminded me of how today's LLMs are trained. The basic idea is that the more data they input, the more intelligent AI will become and sooner or later it will become a conscious being.
It has been interesting to see how old that idea actually is... Probably even older than "The Next Generation"...
I really appreciate how "Heart of Glory" introduces Worf's backstory with such deftness and, indeed, mystique with the Klingon High Command... Plus Geordi's VISOR introduced effectively, even if it feels shoehorned a tad much with what amounts to an urgent situation where maybe a different time to test and explore it may have been done better, and yet it works. Not to mention, we see shades of "That is not the Klingon way!" as a Worf trademark right off the bat, with forgetting Klingons are not a microcosm. Plus, one of the baddies says a line in a slur that I'd argue validates "Starfleet Academy" (a show that tries to break the monolithic nature of the older Trek shows and IMHO there's a bit of a valid point about every Trek species being "the same" if taken literally, even if the other species were metaphors and anthropomorphizations of human nature elements (esp. TNG). A friend told me recently that SA started dumb but improved, making me wonder also if it might have found its own way to break the zeitgeist like how TOS did in reruns and how TNG had by season 3 (even if 2 and parts of 1 clearly show the series finding its way).
"The Arsenal of Freedom" just remains a great action piece with some twists, despite a couple nitpicks. (Didn't expect the Lollipop reference to actually be endearing, since I thought that was corny a couple decades ago. The actors playing it so straight makes all the difference. )
"We'll Always Have Paris" does a far better job at threatening the whole cosmos than "The Alternative Factor", plus brings in some of Picard's personal life and why not fencing? It's not the most rewatchable, but it's a solid entry. Even with the contraction. (Plus, I miss the cosmic orange doors opposite the beige. Reminds me of the iPhone 17 with beige case.)
"Symbiosis" is nowhere near as bad as its reputation, and the incidental music is incredibly good and moody (well, most of seasons 1-4 are with so many original scores with theme motifs that enhanced everything.)
TNG season 1 was very up or down, but the down ones unfairly fetter the up ones. I love this season more and more each time, it really is a new universe to explore, and I love the theme music - the score is so hauntingly and ethereal.
"The Arsenal of Freedom" just remains a great action piece with some twists, despite a couple nitpicks. (Didn't expect the Lollipop reference to actually be endearing, since I thought that was corny a couple decades ago. The actors playing it so straight makes all the difference. )
"We'll Always Have Paris" does a far better job at threatening the whole cosmos than "The Alternative Factor", plus brings in some of Picard's personal life and why not fencing? It's not the most rewatchable, but it's a solid entry. Even with the contraction. (Plus, I miss the cosmic orange doors opposite the beige. Reminds me of the iPhone 17 with beige case
.)"Symbiosis" is nowhere near as bad as its reputation, and the incidental music is incredibly good and moody (well, most of seasons 1-4 are with so many original scores with theme motifs that enhanced everything.)
TNG season 1 was very up or down, but the down ones unfairly fetter the up ones. I love this season more and more each time, it really is a new universe to explore, and I love the theme music - the score is so hauntingly and ethereal.
11001001: Not sure how the Holodeck can create holographic smells, or the occasional crass dialogue such as "foreign language bank", but the ideas, bulk of their execution*, and sincerity of acting are so strong that it just isn't as jarring.
* Honestly, for this episode, the season 7 episode where Data chides Worf for disobeying orders, Data nails command in the most natural-flowing way to both situation and character in this season 1 story (season 7's being runner-up.) Plus, while the other story is otherwise a mixed bag but his taking command in "Angel One" had a couple of great moments and his calculating time. Oh wait, he did that season 5 story too but time and rewatches can really change opinions over time...
Hide & Q. This one is both amazing and a misfire at the same time. Tempting Riker and his really wanting to use it for noble purposes gives a direction better than "Just give them powers by some galactic accident and see what happens" is a great take...
Yar admitting she's ready to do cootie with the captain feels slightly out of character... yet not entirely so. It seems complex, but out of place. Yet the crew are in quite a place where the normal actions aren't expected. Kirk wouldn't tolerate his crew doing the same, partly because he'd more likely get it on with the guest star of the week but before I digress...
Q using the ship as a penalty box is the perfect sort of sardonic amusement... of course, why the f/x team spent time and money to show the ship's lighting and systems powering back on when the Engineering technician reports they had never stopped is just a tiny little headscratcher... looks cool, though.
It does bug me that Picard and others point out Q's game with the "animal things" (what, there's no better name for them?!) and yet don't bother to point out that the dead girl, cliche or not, was a real being in a real situation. Not in terms of "Don't give Will/Bill any ideas" but pretending both were in the same context, which they weren't. (Yeah, only in 2 or 3 episodes was 'Bill' said and it was by accident, but it's early season 1, with one of the more irritating elements of it in play.)
Actually, on the "animal things", being a product of Q blending and warping human history with truly monstrous creations as a live-action doll set, it doesn't not work. But with season 1's foibles including "foreign language bank" and other anomalies sprinkled throughout, this story's title of "animal things" feels more a happenstance than reflecting on Q's parlor trickery.
Wesley growing older instantly is another great ambivalent moment. Geordi was allowed to say 'not bad' in a way that could not unreasonably suggest a romantic attraction, yet they superimpose Wesley's voice in a completely unconvincing way. 10 years past puberty, folks, he's not sounding like he's wading through the middle of it... But I forgot how startling the body horror of Wesley being speared like whale was. The show really was gutsy early on with this sort of thing... but, really, wanting a decade of life zapped by the Loki-like Q? Then again, it's puberty and most people having gone through it know how dang awkward it is... (Norse mythology could be a hoot, and I always give a couple of hoots every day
...)
McFadden did not have much to do in this episode, but her season 1 performances really are top-tier.
Not sure which is worse, the Enterprise TMP model in Picard's ready room (the Stargazer comes in a few episodes later, but still) or Riker going all Gary Mitchell with hand gestures as 80s memberberries... come to think of it, in TOS's story the esper abilities are enhanced by the great barrier (an interesting idea and yet nobody else goes back there or has their ship nearly destroyed, etc) and now there's Q who hands out what's surely not the same powers like candy... uh-oh, did I just small-universe something? Oh well, at least it's not the same-old corny "Trelane's a Q" shtick... but now that risks humanizing the Q and those metaphorical loc-- this time I'm stopping myself mid-digression, so I'll continue on:
Data's outright refusal to be turned human is interesting, especially to see Spiner without the make-up. (Until then, go watch reruns of Night Court.) And Geordi gets far more direct panache in telling Q why he wanted to be put back, despite a fantastic scene where he gets to see just like everyone else albeit ever so briefly.
Amazed Riker didn't give Picard what he wanted most, but the mystery is nice. We can fathom, of course, he doesn't want a family with half a dozen kids (much less any eggroll, pardon the esoteric reference to a movie from the late-1960s I've only heard of by chance, the one that inspired "The Brady Bunch" TV show...)
Worf's great in this episode too, either spilling that Country Time Lemonade onto the ground or doing the cootie foreplay boldly in front of the entire bridge crew. That's still far more intriguing than going to a restaurant to see two humans feeding each other with their sporks, that's for sure...
Still love this story, though, as all the wins more than make up for any nitpicks. There's a great and ambitious story in this but doesn't quite make it, but I'd rather go for this attempt than have a flat story feel flawless. Don't say that while eating a bunch of crackers either...
Yar admitting she's ready to do cootie with the captain feels slightly out of character... yet not entirely so. It seems complex, but out of place. Yet the crew are in quite a place where the normal actions aren't expected. Kirk wouldn't tolerate his crew doing the same, partly because he'd more likely get it on with the guest star of the week but before I digress...
Q using the ship as a penalty box is the perfect sort of sardonic amusement... of course, why the f/x team spent time and money to show the ship's lighting and systems powering back on when the Engineering technician reports they had never stopped is just a tiny little headscratcher... looks cool, though.
It does bug me that Picard and others point out Q's game with the "animal things" (what, there's no better name for them?!) and yet don't bother to point out that the dead girl, cliche or not, was a real being in a real situation. Not in terms of "Don't give Will/Bill any ideas" but pretending both were in the same context, which they weren't. (Yeah, only in 2 or 3 episodes was 'Bill' said and it was by accident, but it's early season 1, with one of the more irritating elements of it in play.)
Actually, on the "animal things", being a product of Q blending and warping human history with truly monstrous creations as a live-action doll set, it doesn't not work. But with season 1's foibles including "foreign language bank" and other anomalies sprinkled throughout, this story's title of "animal things" feels more a happenstance than reflecting on Q's parlor trickery.
Wesley growing older instantly is another great ambivalent moment. Geordi was allowed to say 'not bad' in a way that could not unreasonably suggest a romantic attraction, yet they superimpose Wesley's voice in a completely unconvincing way. 10 years past puberty, folks, he's not sounding like he's wading through the middle of it... But I forgot how startling the body horror of Wesley being speared like whale was. The show really was gutsy early on with this sort of thing... but, really, wanting a decade of life zapped by the Loki-like Q? Then again, it's puberty and most people having gone through it know how dang awkward it is... (Norse mythology could be a hoot, and I always give a couple of hoots every day
...)McFadden did not have much to do in this episode, but her season 1 performances really are top-tier.
Not sure which is worse, the Enterprise TMP model in Picard's ready room (the Stargazer comes in a few episodes later, but still) or Riker going all Gary Mitchell with hand gestures as 80s memberberries... come to think of it, in TOS's story the esper abilities are enhanced by the great barrier (an interesting idea and yet nobody else goes back there or has their ship nearly destroyed, etc) and now there's Q who hands out what's surely not the same powers like candy... uh-oh, did I just small-universe something? Oh well, at least it's not the same-old corny "Trelane's a Q" shtick... but now that risks humanizing the Q and those metaphorical loc-- this time I'm stopping myself mid-digression, so I'll continue on:
Data's outright refusal to be turned human is interesting, especially to see Spiner without the make-up. (Until then, go watch reruns of Night Court.) And Geordi gets far more direct panache in telling Q why he wanted to be put back, despite a fantastic scene where he gets to see just like everyone else albeit ever so briefly.
Amazed Riker didn't give Picard what he wanted most, but the mystery is nice. We can fathom, of course, he doesn't want a family with half a dozen kids (much less any eggroll, pardon the esoteric reference to a movie from the late-1960s I've only heard of by chance, the one that inspired "The Brady Bunch" TV show...)
Worf's great in this episode too, either spilling that Country Time Lemonade onto the ground or doing the cootie foreplay boldly in front of the entire bridge crew. That's still far more intriguing than going to a restaurant to see two humans feeding each other with their sporks, that's for sure...
Still love this story, though, as all the wins more than make up for any nitpicks. There's a great and ambitious story in this but doesn't quite make it, but I'd rather go for this attempt than have a flat story feel flawless. Don't say that while eating a bunch of crackers either...
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The Last Outpost:
I did not expect to be so engaged with this story, even with the odd dialogue strewn about.
Some 20th centuryisms aside, for which Geordi oddly in particular gets quite a few out of character moments, but Yar too gets one line that feels all wrong, there's a lot of set pieces with story idea and exploration of a truly alien planet that I dare say get overlooked. This is a surprisingly strong episode - even when the action moves to the planet (which is very well realized as far as alien worlds go) the Ferengi and their first outing come across perhaps indeed too silly and caricature at times - Flanderization even before that term was coined, in fact - yet somehow come across menacing at the same time... considering they too are in the middle of the unknown they're acting differently to humans, and the story's theme revolves around overcoming fear and how good Riker is at it. Which must kill their appetite, given the quip Picard makes to Groppler Zorn about their feeding habits. It's too easy and understandable to look at their flailing around and making snide comments about not clothing one another while being disgusted at the concept, which then begs questions upon questions about their own society-- but this is their first episode, rough around the edges, cramming in a lot if not too much of background as well as balancing the menace of the plot. While messy, Armin Shimerman definitely knew how to make far more of the Ferengi than what TNG could ever show, and he helped immesurably to elevate them big-time when DS9 came about.
Portal is an interesting character.
Jean, as namedropped by Beverly late in the episode (yep, this is early season 1 for sure!) even gets a nice placid "Merde" - which censors might have liked because nobody was going to look up or translate at the time, and he says it as cooly as Saavik stated "Damn" in TWOK.
Beverly even gets a line in about not sedating Wesley, followed by Picard saying he's what amounts to about death, for which Beverly in turn quips if it's a male perspective. It's an interesting and open-ended scene, but one looking for a better story to dive into because this entry is more about the atmosphere and other messages at its core.
This is one of the few times we see a holographic projector plate, in the briefing room - a room that is still not situated behind the bridge as there's a corridor beyond the door, for which some episodes have people walking down as if they're not about to hit an abrupt bulkhead wall what with the proximity of the windows. Stupid facts... But for all we know that leads to an escape pod with airlock, and TNG/1 wasn't fully fleshed out given the dialogue and location of room inconsistencies. But still fairly strong.
The technical reasons for Geordi beaming upside down are also refreshing, and a reminder that the magical transporter actually can have some danger to it.
The cinematography is fantastic. We don't see much of this in later seasons. We don't get much of it, but it's certianly more appreciated in seasons 1 and 2 because it feels genuinely alien and with unexpected elements. (Later seasons it's just panning across the usual styrofoam rocks and maybe a chasm. Not even large crystals with a purpose. Okey dokey then.)
Must I mention the finger puzzle gag? It's both a high point and a low, since Data - for all his intelligence - cannot figure out how to get out of it (metahpor and foreshadowing and even quiet 4th wall of the story's main plot as well?). Which I think is part of the point, rather... But the low point is when Riker wants to get into a boatload of tribble by asking he beam over to the Ferengi a big box of the dumb things, because "funny".
7.5/10, while it's got clunk it's got spunk... and I didn't expect to remain so captivated, especially during the colloquialisms that Geodi and Yar put out (at least Data had a reason in attempting to emulate it that feels natural.)
I did not expect to be so engaged with this story, even with the odd dialogue strewn about.
Some 20th centuryisms aside, for which Geordi oddly in particular gets quite a few out of character moments, but Yar too gets one line that feels all wrong, there's a lot of set pieces with story idea and exploration of a truly alien planet that I dare say get overlooked. This is a surprisingly strong episode - even when the action moves to the planet (which is very well realized as far as alien worlds go) the Ferengi and their first outing come across perhaps indeed too silly and caricature at times - Flanderization even before that term was coined, in fact - yet somehow come across menacing at the same time... considering they too are in the middle of the unknown they're acting differently to humans, and the story's theme revolves around overcoming fear and how good Riker is at it. Which must kill their appetite, given the quip Picard makes to Groppler Zorn about their feeding habits. It's too easy and understandable to look at their flailing around and making snide comments about not clothing one another while being disgusted at the concept, which then begs questions upon questions about their own society-- but this is their first episode, rough around the edges, cramming in a lot if not too much of background as well as balancing the menace of the plot. While messy, Armin Shimerman definitely knew how to make far more of the Ferengi than what TNG could ever show, and he helped immesurably to elevate them big-time when DS9 came about.
Portal is an interesting character.
Jean, as namedropped by Beverly late in the episode (yep, this is early season 1 for sure!) even gets a nice placid "Merde" - which censors might have liked because nobody was going to look up or translate at the time, and he says it as cooly as Saavik stated "Damn" in TWOK.
Beverly even gets a line in about not sedating Wesley, followed by Picard saying he's what amounts to about death, for which Beverly in turn quips if it's a male perspective. It's an interesting and open-ended scene, but one looking for a better story to dive into because this entry is more about the atmosphere and other messages at its core.
This is one of the few times we see a holographic projector plate, in the briefing room - a room that is still not situated behind the bridge as there's a corridor beyond the door, for which some episodes have people walking down as if they're not about to hit an abrupt bulkhead wall what with the proximity of the windows. Stupid facts... But for all we know that leads to an escape pod with airlock, and TNG/1 wasn't fully fleshed out given the dialogue and location of room inconsistencies. But still fairly strong.
The technical reasons for Geordi beaming upside down are also refreshing, and a reminder that the magical transporter actually can have some danger to it.
The cinematography is fantastic. We don't see much of this in later seasons. We don't get much of it, but it's certianly more appreciated in seasons 1 and 2 because it feels genuinely alien and with unexpected elements. (Later seasons it's just panning across the usual styrofoam rocks and maybe a chasm. Not even large crystals with a purpose. Okey dokey then.)
Must I mention the finger puzzle gag? It's both a high point and a low, since Data - for all his intelligence - cannot figure out how to get out of it (metahpor and foreshadowing and even quiet 4th wall of the story's main plot as well?). Which I think is part of the point, rather... But the low point is when Riker wants to get into a boatload of tribble by asking he beam over to the Ferengi a big box of the dumb things, because "funny".
7.5/10, while it's got clunk it's got spunk... and I didn't expect to remain so captivated, especially during the colloquialisms that Geodi and Yar put out (at least Data had a reason in attempting to emulate it that feels natural.)
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